Injury statuses of four Notre Dame football players revealed during Saturday’s news conference
On Saturday, Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman, defensive coordinator Al Golden and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock updated the injury statuses of four players during their respective news conferences. The most notable was that cornerback Chance Tucker sustained a leg injury during Saturday’s jersey scrimmage.
“Chance Tucker got injured,” Freeman said. “I don’t know the extent of his injury. I think they said it was a lower leg/knee. But I don’t know the extent of it. But other than that, we stayed healthy.”
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Depending on the outcome of Tucker’s injury, Notre Dame’s defensive back depth could be thin heading into Texas A&M Week 1.
Preseason All-America cornerback Benjamin Morrison is coming off shoulder surgery. Although he expects to be full-go by Aug. 31, there is no telling how he will handle his first live hit when it happens.
The only other scholarship cornerbacks behind Morrison, Tucker, Christian Gray, and Jaden Mickey are freshmen newcomers Karson Hobbs and Leonard Moore. The latter, a three-star out of Round Rock (Texas) High, has flashed during fall camp. But according to Golden, has been limited during practice.
“Leonard has been a little banged up as of late,” Golden said. “I’m sure he’s going to be healthy and ready to go once we start our A&M prep.”
Freeman, Denbrock discuss Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans’ recovery; Freeman adds comments on Howard Cross III’s health
Like Morrison, tight end Mitchell Evans (ACL recovery) and Howard Cross III (hamstring/load management) are both preseason All-Americans and on the mend. However, Evenas and Cross did not participate in the jersey scrimmage.
“They’ve gotten plenty of work in practice,” Freeman said. “They’re both back practicing. We held both of those guys out, along with a couple of other guys. So they didn’t play today.
“But they’ve both practiced enough that, I mean, I think if we had a game today, both of them would be able to go. We felt like we didn’t need to put them out there right now. But they’re expected to be back for sure.”
Freeman did not reveal whether Morrison participated in the jersey scrimmage.
Denbrock commented on Evans’ progress in more detail, explaining that the junior tight end is almost back to practicing at full capacity.
“I am so excited where Mitch is going,” Denbrock said. “He’s gotten involved in a lot more this last week. We’ll ramp him up a little more heading into this next week and try to get him toward the finish line and ready to go.”
Before the Irish kick off the season against Texas A&M in two weeks, Freeman will address the media again on Monday, Aug. 26. Golden and Denbrock will speak to reporters again the next day, Tuesday, Aug. 27.
